New Zealand Organizations Seeks to Bury Sign Oppositon

Problems with bureaucrats, who, at best, don’t understand the benefits of signage – or, at worst, seek to write sign codes that diminish or eliminate signs – extend beyond the U.S. Just ask Shaun O’Neill, president of the Te Aroha Business Assn. (TEBA), which promotes the interests of 46 enterprises in the namesake New Zealand town with approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The town is near the region’s hot, soda-water springs, and the world’s only thermal, soda-water geyser. Restaurants, spas and shops have sprouted in the community as Te Aroha attempts to generate a tourist economy.

Thus, O’Neill and other Te Aroha officials have repeatedly lobbied the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to install a large, directional sign at the roundabout that connects state highways to the route to Te Aroha. The town is approximately 10 miles from the highway, so a conspicuous highway sign is essential. O’Neill said the NZTA has cited such arbitrary reasons as too large of a sign, lack of proximity to the highway, or the lack of an historic-site designation (O’Neill countered the last point by stating that New Zealand’s Historic Places Trust supported the sign application).

Taking their case to his community, O’Neill and TEBA have started a petition and produced a series of signs that cleverly state their opinions about the NZTA. The top part of the signs convey messages that allude
to local tourist attractions, and the lower portion says “Bureaucratic Nonsense” and points downward with a “6 ft.” notation (e.g., kill the nonsense and bury it six feet under).

As of August 16, the petition had received more than 3,000 signatures, with support from the district council’s mayor and the region’s parliamentary representative. O’Neill planned to present the document to NZTA Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee and Prime Minister John Key soon thereafter.